


A Man Chooses

by lipsstainedbloodred



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Bioshock AU, Body Horror, M/M, Scenes of violence, in progress, neil has amnesia, this is very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 21:23:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17352851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lipsstainedbloodred/pseuds/lipsstainedbloodred
Summary: Neil wakes up with nothing but his name and a million questions. He has vague feelings of memories, but nothing concrete. He remembers the ghost of his mother's hand on his arm, her hurried voice in his ear. And pain, he remembers that too. He finds himself in a place called Rapture, run by a man named Kengo Moriyama who has managed to turn paradise into a living nightmare. Neil finds himself in the hands of the Foxes, a rebel group just trying to survive the splicers and the Moriyamas guard Ravens. As time moves on and things take a turn for the deadly, Neil comes face to face with where he came from and who he used to be.





	A Man Chooses

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this AU for like 2 years and while I may be slow to update I'm very excited for you all to read it and I hope you love it as much as I do.

Neil wakes up, twelve feet from what looks like a round bronzed submarine, and doesn’t know where he is. He takes stock of his body; bruised elbow, sprained ankle, scrapes and minor cuts but nothing serious and looks around. He’s in a huge bay, those bronzed pods spaced out in little docks, probably less than a dozen of them. Most of them look non-functional, either with pieces missing or half sunk into the water their sitting in. Only two seem to be in working order, one on the west end and the one he’s in front of. The walls of the bay are dark gray, though the paint seems to be peeling, with bullet holes and blood spatter acting like cruel painting across their totality. The walls stretch upward into pure darkness. The only sources of light in the room seem to come from the two working pods and some broken flood lights on the ground. The lights flicker intermittently, making the room seem more terrible than it should. Neil forces himself to his feet and winces at the dull pain in his ankle. It will be difficult to run, but not impossible. The real question is where the hell is he, and how did he get here.   
  
A crackle from the pod behind him forces him to turn. It sounds like radio static. “This is Fox 1,”    
  
A female voice says, “Is someone close to Bay 2?”   
  
“I am,” Another female voice replies.   
  
“Something’s triggered one of the bathyspheres. Go check it out. Could be another damn splicer trying to mess with it.” The first voice says.   
  
“On it.” The second replies and the static cuts out.   
  
Neil feels panic spike in his chest. He has no idea where he is, or if the people coming will be a threat to him. He looks around quickly. There’s rubble scattered all across the bay, either from broken pillars or maybe bits of wall, so he moves as quick as he can to hide between a wall and a large broken stone. From here he can see the pods bobbing gently in the water and the rows of docks. It doesn’t leave him much room to run but hopefully if he’s quiet enough he won’t need to.    
  
Time passes slowly while he’s crouched down low in the dark corner, breathing as quiet as he can manage. Seconds feel like minutes feel like hours before he sees the sharp beam of a flashlight come shining across the room from the far west end. Neil ducks his head and peeks through a crack between the wall and rubble instead. It gives him reduced visibility, but he also hopes it keeps him hidden.   
  
The beam of light from the flashlight bobs as the person walks, pointing it up the walls to the ceiling and swiping back and forth along the floor, slowing moving toward the pod he’d come from. He sees the girl move toward the pod with a flashlight in one hand and a revolver in the other. The light from the pod glints off the silver metal and Neil grits his teeth.    
  
“That’s weird,” The girl says, so soft he almost doesn’t catch it. “But where-?” She does a full circle, slowly, her light shining right into the crack Neil’s peeking through, and his heart stops. She continues her slow rotation though and Neil’s breathing relaxes just a bit. She steps into the pod and Neil hears that radio crackle again, “Fox 1 this is Fox 9 checking in.”   
  
“Go ahead,” Neil hears from Fox 1, in that strange radio crackle.   
  
“No splicers as far as I can see, but I noticed something weird. It looks like whatever we’re dealing with came from the bathysphere.” Fox 9 says.   
  
“That’s impossible, they’re locked up tight.” Fox 1 says.   
  
“I’m standing in it right now, Fox 1,” Fox 9 says, “But the door wasn’t forced open. And it looks like there might be fresh blood on the floor.”   
  
“You think we got a visitor from Top Side?” Fox 1 asks, sounding concerned.   
  
“I’m sure we do,” Fox 9 says.   
  
Neil’s breath hitches and he darts from his hiding spot. It’s no use hiding, they already know he’s here. He makes it thirty feet before a shape darts out of the darkness and slams him into the floor. Neil’s never been much of a fighter, but he lashes out now, desperately trying to pull himself back up to his feet. A fist catches him in the ribs and then in the side of the head and he slams into the concrete floor. His breath goes in one gasp and then his attacker has him pinned face down on the floor with his arms behind his back. “Hey Renee,” His attacker calls and the asshole doesn’t even sound winded, “I found a rat.”   
  
“Fox 3 caught him,” Fox 9 says into the radio, “Stand by.”   
  
“Over,” Fox 1 signs off and Fox 9 steps out of the pod.    
  
“Andrew you’re going to break his arm if you keep twisting it,” Fox 9 says as she walks over. Neil can’t see much further up than her shins, but the hems of her jeans are blood stained and he doesn’t think that bodes well for him.   
  
His attacker doesn’t reply, but the grip on his arm eases just enough that the pain isn’t as sharp.    
  
Fox 9 crouches down and says, “Sorry there’s not a warmer welcome for you, but we can’t be sure you’re not trying to kill us.” The odd thing is that she sounds sincere. Her white hair spills into her face but she doesn’t bother brushing it away, “Can you tell me who you are?”   
Neil doesn’t say anything and his attacker puts pressure back on his arm that makes him gasp. He can taste blood in his mouth, though he’s not sure if it’s from his busted lip or if he bit his tongue during the fall.    
  
“I’m Renee,” Fox 9 says, “and this is my partner Andrew. This will go a lot easier for you if you just tell us who you are.”   
  
Neil takes a breath and grits out, “Neil.”   
  
“Okay, Neil,” Renee says gently, “We’re in a very dangerous place and we’re not safe for long. Where did you come from?”   
  
“I don’t know,” Neil says. Andrew hitches his arm up higher and Neil chokes on his own spit, “I don’t know. I woke up in front of that pod.”   
  
“You woke up?” Renee asks. “Do you remember where you came from before that?”   
  
“No,” Neil says, “Now can you tell this asshole to fuck off, my arm doesn’t bend that way.”   
  
“It will if I make it bend that way,” Andrew says.   
  
“Andrew I think he’s telling the truth.” Renee says.    
  
“You think every sob story is telling the truth,” Andrew says, “We don’t need another Raven.”   
  
“We can let David decide that,” Renee says.   
  
“You can stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Neil says bitterly, “either kill me or don’t.”   
  
Andrew’s knee knocks against Neil’s ribs before he sighs, “I’m letting you up. If you run I will shoot you in the legs, and trust me I never miss.” He releases Neil’s arms before standing up smoothly.    
  
Neil stands and wipes the blood from his mouth. He’s annoyed to see that Andrew is actually shorter than him, probably only about five feet tall, though he’s definitely broader in the chest and shoulders than Neil.    
  
“We need to move,” Renee says, “We’ve already been here too long.” She puts away her flashlight and turns to Neil. “Can you run?” She asks.   
  
Sparing no thought to his sprained ankle Neil looks up at her and says, “Yeah, I can run.”   
  
Renee nods and says, “Okay, I’ll take the lead, Andrew will take the rear. Just follow me and try to keep up.” She doesn’t wait for his answering nod before taking off toward the door.   
  
Neil takes off after her, hearing Andrew’s feet thudding behind him, and buries the throb in his ankle to the back of his mind. He follows Renee past more debris and rubble, some trash in barrels they run by is on fire and casts wicked shadows across crumbling walls. He almost balks when they pass by a wall of windows and he sees the ocean.   
  
Or, that’s incorrect. He sees that they’re under the ocean, with fish passing by and seaweed crawling up the outer walls. Andrew bumps into his back and hisses, “Move it, idiot.” Neil snaps his head back forward and pushes down his awe for later. Right now all he can focus on is surviving; that, at least, is familiar.    
  
Renee leads them further and further into the building and to an antique style elevator. It looks completely open and barely big enough to fit the three of them but Renee seems unconcerned. They take it down several floors, past more fires and rubble and walls of windows where the ocean peeks through until all light disappears and then further still. Neil presses his back against the open wall, his hands fidgeting at his sides. Neil hears a click, like the sound of a lighter, and the elevator lights up.    
  
Andrew’s hand comes up and Neil makes a shocked noise before Renee puts a hand over his mouth. Andrew’s hand is completely on fire, or it’s made of fire, Neil’s not sure which. The skin looks cracked and his veins burn bright like lava, fire crackling around his fingers. Andrew gives Neil a cold smile and snaps his fingers, a puff of fire sparking up into the air in front of him.    
Renee studies the wall in front of them, illuminated by the fire coming from Andrew’s hand, and counts silently. When she mouths the number 67 she reaches behind Neil and hits a button. The elevator stops in front of a solid black wall and Neil shifts nervously. Renee twitches her hand and the wall slides to the left, revealing a small entry way.    
  
“Welcome to Fox Tower, Neil,” Renee says, and walks inside.   
  
Andrew knocks his shoulder against Neil’s and follows Renee. Neil frowns at Andrew’s back, and stands in the elevator for a second longer. Renee turns and smiles back at Neil, an encouraging smile that Neil finds anything but, and Neil steps out of the darkness and into the light.   
  
Renee twitches her hand and the door slides back into place. Neil hears the elevator start its climb back up to the top and his heart speeds up, thudding rabbit quick against his ribcage at his inability to escape. Neil’s swallows down his panic and follows Renee and Andrew past the entry way, marked with honest to god torches, and through a door. They end up in a room with solid red walls and stone floors, in the center of the room is a couch, a rug, and two antique louis xv style chairs. On the wall to their left is a hand radio in a gold cradle that connects it to the wall and a wooden door. On the wall opposite them are two machines, one labeled “Gene Bank” and one labeled “U-Invent”. The wall to their right has something that looks like a trash can in the corner, but a pipe leads up into the ceiling from it and the label on the front read “PNEUMO”.    
  
Renee gestures to the couch and says, “Go ahead and sit down, Neil.”   
  
“I’ll stand, thanks,” Neil says.   
  
“Don’t be stubborn,” Andrew says, “It’ll make us want to break you.”   
  
“You wish you could.” Neil says.   
  
Andrew gives Neil a once over and heads to the couch, stretching himself out along it and kicking his shoes up on the leather. Renee shakes her head in a fond gesture and walks over to the radio, “Coach, call back.”   
  
A long moment passes before a gruff male voice answers through the radio, “This is Coach.”   
  
“Fox 9 and Fox 3 reporting back with an additional,” Renee says, “Requesting admission test.”   
  
“You brought back an additional?” Coach’s voice comes back, surprised, “I’ll be right down, stand by.”   
  
“Over,” Renee signs off and makes her way over to a chair to sit down.    
  
A few minutes later the door opens and a tall, buff looking man in a long sleeve shirt and dark jeans with a scowl on his face walks through. Neil sucks in a quick breath, his eyes darting down to the floor as the man looks him over top to bottom before looking at Andrew, “Feet off the couch Minyard.”   
  
Andrew makes a show of running his shoes over the couch as he swings them to the floor.    
  
The man huffs out a breath and looks at Renee, raising an eyebrow. “Explain,” He says, pointing at Neil.   
  
“We found him in Bay 2, he said he woke up outside a bathysphere and doesn’t remember how he got there,” Renee says.   
  
“You believe him?” The man asks.   
  
“I do,” Renee says, “Andrew doesn’t.”   
  
The man looks at Andrew who shrugs. He looks back over at Neil, “Kid get over here and take a seat.”    
  
Neil wordlessly makes his way over, keeping distance between himself and the man as he takes a seat in the remaining chair.    
  
“Tell me what you know,” The man says.   
  
“I don’t know anything,” Neil says, “I woke up on the ground in front of that pod. I don’t know    
how I got here or where I was before I woke up. What the hell is this place?”   
  
The man looks him over in silence for a moment before seeming to come to a decision, “This is Rapture, paradise under the sea, or at least it was until the Moriyamas took over. This place went to shit real fast once the Moriyamas claimed the throne. They had a real nasty hand in the plasmid business, got almost everyone in Rapture addicted to ADAM, turned them into people so spliced out or their minds that they’ll kill anyone for just a tiny bit of the stuff.”   
  
The confusion on Neil’s face must register because the man gives a frustrated huff and says, “You’re going to have a lot of questions and I’m not going to have time to explain it all to you. You can ask Matt to give you the run down once you’re inside the Foxhole.”   
  
“You believe him,” Renee says suddenly.   
  
“I do,” The man says.   
  
Andrew’s mouth twists into an ugly looking thing, “If I’m right and he’s a spy-“   
  
“Then you’ll take care of it,” The man says with a shrug, “But I don’t think he’s a spy. I think he’s a kid who’s been dragged into a fucked-up situation.” Andrew shoots the man a glare but the man ignores him. “What’s your name kid?”   
  
“Neil,” Neil says.   
  
“I’m David Wymack, my radio callsign is Coach,” The man says, “This is Fox Tower, we currently have eleven people living here. There’s nine scouts, me, and our medic. All of us were living in various parts of Rapture before everything went to hell, and we slowly found each other and started making a base down here. Our biggest threat other than the damned splicers is the Moriyamas guard dogs called the Ravens. If you want you can stay here with us, we have the room and a spot for you as a scout.”   
  
“Do I have any other options?” Neil asks dryly.   
  
Wymack shrugs, “You can head back up the elevator and take your chances with the splicers.”   
  


Neil deflates a little, already tired and sore. He’s so out of his element and in over his head it’s insane. “Well, thanks for the place to sleep I guess. It’s better than the bay anyway.”   
  
Wymack looks at Renee, “Go get him settled into a room. He can probably borrow some of Andrew’s clothes until we can head up and scrounge him up some more. Congrats kid, welcome to the Foxes.” Wymack turns and heads back through the door.   
  
Andrew looks resigned from his spot on the couch and he gives Neil a dark look, “I don’t know how you weaseled your way in here, but when I prove that you’re a Raven spy I’m going to kill you.”   
  
“I’m shaking in my boots,” Neil says, holding Andrew’s gaze steadily.    
  
“Alright Neil,” Renee says, standing, “Let’s get you inside.”   
  
Neil stands and follows Renee through the door, leaving Andrew lounging on the couch behind them. Renee leads him through a short hallway and into another room. This room is larger than the last with two couches and multiple chairs, though it sports the same red walls and stone flooring. There’s a purple machine in the corner with two little girl statues depicted on it and “Gatherer’s Garden” in bright letters. There’s a door with a number lock straight ahead of them, to the left is an archway and Neil can see a kitchen through the opening, to the right is another arch that looks like it leads to a set of stairs.   
  
“This is the common room,” Renee says, “The armory is through the locked door, the code changes weekly, so you’ll have to get the code every week from David or Dan. The kitchen is through the arch to the left, we don’t have a cook so you’ll be in charge of your own meals, but sometimes Abby will cook a big dinner for everyone when the mood strikes her. The stairs on the right lead down to the dorms and the infirmary.”   
  
“Okay,” Neil says.   
  
Renee leads him downstairs to a hall with two doors on either side and a door at the far end. “The girls’ dorm is the first door on the left, David and Abby’s room is next to that, Andrew’s family is the first door on the right. You’ll be rooming with Seth and Matt in the second room on the right. The last door is the infirmary, Abby should be in there right now if you want to see her.”   
  
“Why would I want to see her?” Neil asks.   
  
Renee looks at his busted lip and down to his ankle. “You’re hurt, and you’re no good to us injured. Let Abby get you patched up and I’ll let Matt and Seth know you’re staying with them.” Renee smiles at him, a gentle looking thing, and walks away.   
  
Neil stares after her for a second before sighing and walking down to the last door, passing Renee as he goes. He knocks on the door hesitantly and hears a warm voice call, “Door’s open!” Neil opens the door and walks inside, shutting it behind him.    
  
The infirmary is a decent sized room with cabinets and counters built into two of the four walls. There are three beds on the wall to his left with curtains separating each one. In the center of the room is an island with a sink and boxes upon boxes of bandages and cotton balls. A woman steps out of the office to his right, “Hi, you must be Neil. David radioed ahead to let me know you were going to stay. I’m Abby, the Foxes medic.”   
  
“Renee said I needed to see you,” Neil says.   
  
Abby nods, a pleasant smile on her face, “I would think so, if Andrew had a go at you. Anything feel broken?”   
  
“No,” Neil says, “My ankle might be sprained, but I woke up like that.”   
  
“Okay take a seat at that middle table and I’ll take a look at you,” Abby says.   
  
Neil frowns but can’t think of a good reason not to do as she says. He’s so far in over his head here. Andrew had lit a fire with just a hand, Renee had moved a wall with a wave of hers, they were in a city built under the ocean. He felt as if he were holding himself together pretty well in the light of so much insanity but he was close to the edge with a long drop ahead of him.    
  
“You must have a ton of questions,” Abby says as she gathers her supplies and Neil situates himself on the edge of the bed. “David said you just woke up down here. I know you don’t remember how you got here, but do you remember anything before that?”   
  
“Not much,” Neil admits, “I know my name, and I remember travelling a lot with my mom. I remember we were chased sometimes and she got hurt. It’s just bits and pieces, nothing concrete.”   
  
Abby makes a sympathetic sound and pulls a stool up in front of the bed and sits in front of him. “I’m sorry Neil, I know none of this can be easy for you.”   
  
Neil shrugs uncomfortably.   
  
“I’ll try to explain this place as simply as I can,” Abby says, motioning for Neil’s arm so she can clean the scrapes along it, “Rapture was built by a man named Andrew Ryan for people who had dreams of creating without limits. Scientific progress was not limited by government regulations. There was no one who would tell you no in Rapture. It seemed like a dream.” Abby motions for his other arm, “I guess it was. Things went wrong pretty quick. A man named Kengo Moriyama started several companies, the main one called Moriyama Futuristics. They had a hand in everything; weapons, robots, medicine, you name it and Moriyama owned it. Things went to hell fast when Moriyama introduced plasmids to the market.”   
  
Abby turned around to grab a bandage to wrap around a cut on Neil’s arm and she took a deep breath. “Plasmids changed everything. You could light a fire with the snap of your fingers, shoot a bolt of electricity from your wrist, summon swarms of insects to hurt your enemies, make a decoy so you could run away. But the thing about plasmids is that they cost ADAM- can you take off your shoes for me?”    
  
Neil toes his shoes off and Abby prods at his feet checking for fractures. He winces while she pokes at his ankle and she reaches over for a bandage to wrap his ankle with. “Where was I?” She asks.   
  
“ADAM,” Neil says.   
  
“Oh, right. Plasmids cost ADAM, which come from slugs in the ocean. Moryiama used the slugs to make EVE hypos, syringes that replenish your ADAM and let you used plasmids. He also used the slugs to turn volunteer children, little girls, into harvesters he calls Little Sisters. They’re not quite human anymore, and they’re protected by giant robots called Big Daddies. Are you following so far?”   
  
“I think so,” Neil says as Abby cleans a cut on his knee.   
  
“People became addicted to plasmids and things got scary in a hurry. You see, every time you introduce a new plasmid into your body it rewrites your genetic code. More than a couple and you start splicing your own genes, it makes you less and less human. Less mentally stable, more prone to violence. People started splicing and splicing. Fights broke out. Babies were murdered in their own cribs. People were killed in hallways and common areas just for a taste at more ADAM.” Abby’s hands stilled and her eyes looked far away as she continued, “Rapture was quickly falling into ruin. Moriyama was trying to pull Rapture out from under Ryan, and he was succeeding. On New Years Eve Ryan threatened to self- destruct Rapture rather than let it fall into Moriyama’s hands, but a man named Nathan Wesninski broke into Ryan’s apartment and killed him. The Moriyama family took over and just bathed in the chaos. Friends became enemies overnight, normal people became Splicers, something not really human anymore. Anyone that wasn’t spliced out of their mind was being killed in awful, violent ways.”   
  
“Then why stay?” Neil asks, “Why not take one of those pods and get out of here?”   
  
“Moriyama controls the bathyspheres Neil, that’s why it’s so odd that you might have come from one. It’s why Andrew thinks you might be a Raven spy. We can’t escape, all we can do is survive.” Abby says.   
  
Survive, Neil thinks, that might be the only thing he remembers. The only thing he knows.    
“I think we might be able to get out,” Neil says slowly after a moment. Abby gives him a puzzled look. “We just have to kill Moriyama.”   
  
“Neil, we’re better than that,” Abby says, “We only kill when our lives are in danger.”   
  
“Our lives are in danger,” Neil says, “Constantly, it seems. We kill Moriyama, take control of the pods, and escape to the surface.”    
  
“You’re not thinking clearly,” Abby says, “You don’t even know where you are.”   
  
“It seems to me like you’re all content with staying down here, but eventually those Ravens are going to come looking for you and you’re going to be at a disadvantage.” Neil says, “You talk about surviving, but some day that’s not going to be enough anymore.”   
  
“You’re welcome to talk to David about it,” Abby says, “but Andrew has been singing that song since before Kevin came to us, and David hasn’t once changed his mind about it.”   
  
That made Wymack a fool, as far as Neil was concerned. What was a couple of sacrificed lives if the majority was able to escape? “Who’s Kevin?” Neil asks.   
  
“He was one of the Ravens until Riko Moriyama, Kengo’s youngest son, broke his dominant shooting hand.” Abby says, “Now he rooms with Andrew and his family and he’s under our protection. He’s where we get most of our information about Moriyama from.”   
  
“Hmm,” Neil says, thinking.   
  
“You’re cleared,” Abby says, putting away the excess bandages, “If you have more questions I’m happy to answer, but otherwise you can go meet your new roommates.”   
  
“Thanks,” Neil says, sliding his shoes on and heading for the door.   
  
“Oh, and Neil?” Abby says, just as Neil gets to the door. Neil turns to face her. “We’re glad to have you here.”   
  
Neil nods and steps out of the room. One of the dorm rooms is open and a head pokes out when he steps into the hallway. A tall man with a dark head of hair, spiked up to make him seem even taller, lays eyes on Neil and grins. “Hey man!” He says, “I’m Matt, and you’ve got to be Neil. Come on in, this will be your room.”   
  
“Hi,” Neil says.    
  
Matt waves a hand at him, beckoning, and steps back so Neil can enter the room. There are three beds in the room, one bunk bed and a single, and one door to the left of the room. The room isn’t particularly large and is sparsely decorated, it hosts the same stone floors and red walls as the rest of the Tower, though someone has tacked up posters from theater performances and charcoal drawings on the walls next to the single bed. Clothes litter the floor, some bloodstained but most not, and there’s a deflated looking old bean bag chair in the corner. Some books lay haphazardly across the surface of a decrepit desk, a couple of comics peek out from the pile with toxic bright colors.    
  
“Seth is hanging out with Allison in the girls’ room right now,” Matt says, “He’s got the single bed over there. I’ve got the bottom bunk so unless you’ve got a problem with heights-“   
  
“The top bunk is fine,” Neil says.   
  
“Great,” Matt says with a grin, “Renee is getting you a couple of outfits from Andrew since you two are almost the same size.”   
  
Neil gives Matt an unimpressed look. “He’s shorter than me.”   
  
“Is he?” Matt teases, “I’m joking, but seriously Renee says you can run like a demon even if you have a sprained ankle and short legs, so I’m aching to see you in action. Have you ever shot a gun before?”   
  
Neil remembers the faint memory of a gun in his hand, the familiar weight of it and his forefinger calloused from the trigger. “Yeah,” Neil says, “I think I’ve shot a gun before.”   
  
“Good,” Matt says, “No big deal if you can’t, or if you’d rather use something else. Andrew is partial to knives, though he’s damn good with a hand gun, and Seth uses a wrench. We’ll take you to the armory after dinner and let you have a look at what we’ve got.”   
  
“What do you use?” Neil asks.   
  
“I use a crossbow,” Matt says, “I’m partial to incendiary bolts but anything will do in a pinch. By the way, have you eaten yet?”   
  
Neil shakes his head.   
  
“Alright let’s go get some food in you and introduce you to everyone else,” Matt says. Matt walks out of the room, confident that Neil will follow him if he wants food. He’s correct in that assumption, but that doesn’t mean he has to be so damn sure about it, like he already knows Neil after having only just met him.    
  
Neil doesn’t remember much of anything before he ended up down here in Rapture, only vague memories of a mother with a heavy hand and the never-ending ache of his legs and the panic that felt bred into his bones, but he does remember the feeling of helplessness and loss. He thinks that maybe down here with the Foxes he might find something he’s been looking his entire life for.   
  
It’s a disquieting feeling, hope, and he buries it down under a mask of apathy because feelings like that are a little too fragile for the light of day. But he keeps it there, like a secret, and musters up all the courage he has in him and walks after Matt to meet the Foxes.


End file.
